investigating the potential of sildenafil in mitigating fetal growth restriction: a study on experimentally restricted fetal growth rats

Intrauterine growth restriction (iugr) is a common pregnancy complication. sildenafil is also emerging as a potential candidate for the treatment of iugr. the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sildenafil in the prevention of iugr due to impaired uterine blood supply in rats. female rats were randomly divided into three groups once the pregnancy was confirmed. the control group received normal saline, and the sild40 and sild80 groups received 40 and 80 mg/kg of sildenafil. the uterine artery was clamped for 60 minutes on day 17 of gestation. amniotic fluid was collected from viable and nonviable fetuses and subjected to metabolite measurement. the live and dead fetuses, the weight and size of the placenta and fetus were counted during the first celiotomy and cesarean section on day 21 of gestation. 45%, 90%, and 83.88% of fetuses were alive in the control, sild40, and sild80 groups, respectively. no significant difference in placenta weight, fetus weight, and fetus length, were found. however, differences of the liver-to-body and brain-to-body ratio were significant. amniotic fluid metabolites showed no significant difference between the groups except for lactate. in addition, post-ischemia glucose was reduced significantly in the control group. furthermore, pyruvate was significantly increased and lactate was significantly reduced post-ischemia in the sild40 and sild80 groups, respectively. in conclusion, sildenafil seems to counteract the effects of uterine ischemia in pregnant rats and prevent iugr which results from temporary occlusion of the uterine artery.